Case Report: Mass Casualty Lightning Strike at Ranger Training Camp

Military Medicine
Shannon N ThompsonRyan D Aycock

Abstract

Although lightning strikes are a rare occurrence, their significance cannot be ignored given military operations in the field during all types of weather. With proper medical management, patients with lightning injuries can return to duty. Information for this case report comes from eyewitness account at the 6th Ranger Training Battalion and from review of physician documentation from the 96th Medical Group, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. A lightning strike injured 44 Ranger School participants during a training exercise on August 12, 2015, at Camp Rudder, Florida. These patients were triaged in the field and transported to emergency department of Eglin Air Force Base. Of the 44 casualties, 20 were admitted. All were returned to duty the following day. One patient had cardiac arrest. This patient, along with two others, was admitted to the intensive care unit. Seventeen other patients were admitted for observation for rhabdomyolysis and/or cardiac arrhythmias. One patient was admitted with suspected acute kidney injury indicated by an elevated creatinine. All patients, including those admitted to the intensive care unit, were released on the day following the lightning strike without restrictions and were allowed to return to d...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 23, 2018·The Nurse Practitioner·Mary Ellen Zator Estes
Apr 10, 2018·Current Sports Medicine Reports·Alexander P HouserJulia S Fast
Mar 1, 2018·Academic Forensic Pathology·Ryan Blumenthal

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